Bill Barrett sells West Tavaputs field to EnerVest

Bill Barrett Corp. is selling its West Tavaputs natural gas field to EnerVest, a major Houston-based oil and gas producer, for $371 million.

In a statement last week, BBC said it will apply net proceeds of the sale to reducing debt.

The company said the transaction involves about 35,000 acres, 300 producing wells, 265 billion cubic feet equivalent net proved reserves, 68 million cubic feet equivalent net production based a second quarter 2013 figures.

BBC indicated the deal is expected to close before year-end.

EnerVest is ranked as a top-25 producer of petroleum and natural gas. It operates more than 27,000 wells with assets valued at more than $6 billion. It has no Utah operations yet, but it is operating in major oil and gas fields including the well-known Barnett Shale and Permian Basin in Texas, and the San Juan Basin in New Mexico. It is the largest conventional producer of oil and natural gas in Ohio.

Bill Barrett became a familiar corporate name in Carbon County after securing permission from the federal government to proceed with full-field development on the West Tavaputs Plateau three years ago.

Since that time, the company has invested more than $10 million in the $20 million-plus paving of the Nine Mile Canyon road, which was the chosen route for transporting drilling and production equipment.

About $1 million of that total was spend on environmental and archaeological protection in the sensitive area.

The company scaled back development on the Tavaputs when natural gas prices plummeted because of a glut of supply nationwide.